Making It Shine
by caterinavalentine
Summary: "So, why are we hanging out with Puppet Boy and not shopping?" she asked, hopping onto the island in the kitchen. "Because his parents aren't going to be here all night. We have the house to ourselves." "Gross." CHAPTER 1 RATED M
1. Chapter 1

_**MAKING IT SHINE**_

 **CHAPTER ONE**

"Oh… Robbie…" Cat whispered, biting her lip as Robbie pressed his hips into hers.

"You like that?" he asked, kissing her neck.

"Mhm…"

They were at Robbie's house. They were supposed to be doing homework, but they both got frustrated with some of their math problems and decided to go for a swim to take a break. Eventually, things went further than anticipated and they ended up in a heated make out session. Cat's back was against the wall of the pool, her legs wrapped around Robbie's waist and her hands resting on his shoulders.

Robbie's lips trailed from Cat's neck to her shoulder as they grinded their middles into each other. They were in the pool so it was hard to tell, but Cat was probably as wet as the sea, and Robbie was as hard as a rock by this point.

Cat ran her fingers through his curly hair as their lips met. She felt Robbie's hand slide into her bikini bottoms and she let out a small moan as his fingers delicately slid over that little bump she loved having played with. Their tongues swirled together as his fingers worked at her, her hips moving ever so slightly.

They had a strange relationship. They weren't a couple. But they were more than just best friends. They weren't exactly friends with benefits, but they definitely had benefits. They both expressed to each other that they were in love with one another, but they never put a title on their relationship. However, if one was to go out with another person, they were considering it cheating. Not that either of them were interested in any other people.

"Don't stop," Cat whispered.

"Didn't plan on it," Robbie muttered into her neck.

Robbie's fingers danced around her for a few minutes before he finally freed himself from his swimming trunks and let the tip of his member slide against Cat's hardened nub, earning a moan from both of them.

Most people assumed that they were both virgins, but they'd been hooking up like this since eighth grade. They knew how to please each other, although Robbie did most of the work—but he liked it that way and Cat didn't mind it, really.

Their hips moved together as they grinded against one another, and after a few minutes, they both started hitting their peaks.

"Robbie…" she whispered. "I'm cumming."

Cat's head tilted backwards and she let out a moan, quickly followed by Robbie. Their hips kept moving while they rode out their orgasms and they finally stopped moving altogether, their foreheads resting against each other and out of breath.

"Mm…" Cat sighed with a small smile. "I feel really good…"

"Glad I could help," Robbie said, kissing her neck. "Think you'll be up for another round later?"

She nodded. "Most definitely. But first… homework. How late are your parents working?"

"Mom's on call so she'll be at the hospital all night. Dad's out of town on a business trip."

"So we have the house all to ourselves?"

"Yep."

Cat grinned. "Then we can go all night."

* * *

"What the hell is _**this**_?" Jade asked, peering into a fish tank.

"It's a beta fish," Robbie said.

"Why is it all by itself?"

"Because it ate all the other fish…" he muttered.

"I told you not to put it in there, I told you it had to go in its own bowl," Cat said. "It's a fighting fish. They can't be with any other fish."

"Sounds like my kinda fish. What's its name?" Jade asked.

"Ironically, Killer."

"Bitchin'," she said. "So, why are we hanging out with Puppet Boy and not shopping?" she asked, hopping onto the island in the kitchen.

"Because his parents aren't going to be here all night. We have the house to ourselves."

"Gross."

"There's nothing gross about it."

"It is gross, because you two have been fucking since we were thirteen and you do it any chance you get. There's a large window of time for you to have all the fuck time you want."

"It's not like we're gonna do it in front of you—and we do not _**fuck**_. We… do stuff," Cat said, eating a chip from her Chester's Hot Fries bag.

"Which is known as _**fucking**_."

"I'll just be in my room while you two gossip," Robbie said, leaving the kitchen.

"He's gonna go jack off."

Cat giggled. "Nah, he had his fix earlier in the pool."

"Gross! We swim in that pool!"

"There's a filter for a reason."

"The filter isn't there to catch bodily fluids of horny teenagers."

"Well, it still does the job," Cat said, eating another hot fry.

"So, be honest—what 'stuff' do you do?"

"What? With Robbie?"

Jade nodded.

"Well… you know, stuff," Cat said, as if it should be obvious. "Get each other off."

"Wait—that's it? That's literally all you two do, you just rub one out together?"

Cat nodded. "Basically."

"So you're still a virgin."

"I guess so, yeah. Technically."

"You've been fooling around for four years and you still haven't gotten the dick?"

Cat laughed. "No. Why's that such a big deal? I wanna be ready when I have my first time. I'm not ready to go all the way yet."

"And here I thought you guys were into kinky sex. I owe Beck fifteen bucks…"

"You put money on our sex life?"

"Well… Beck did, actually. I just went along with it."

"You guys are assholes, I don't put money on your sex life."

"You already know Beck and I have sex, though."

"Because you told me about it. I don't talk to anybody about my sexy times," Cat said, getting up from her chair and walking across the kitchen. "Besides, I'm not… comfortable talking about it sometimes."

"You just told me you get each other off."

"Yeah, but I didn't give you specifics on how we do it, just that we do it," she said as she opened the fridge.

"You're gonna deny your best friend juicy information?"

"Why do you wanna know?" Cat asked with a laugh, handing Jade a water bottle.

"I'm just curious. I'm not gonna leave you alone until you tell me. You use a vibrator, don't you?"

"No. We don't use toys. Just each other."

"Oh come on, even Beck and I use toys."

"We don't have a need for toys. We have each other."

"So I don't get any details?"

"Not today, sunshine."

"There's nothing bright about me."

"I can tell."

A familiar ringtone sounded and Jade took her phone out of her pocket. "Hello?" she asked. "No, I'm at Robbie's, but I'm with Cat. Oh, no I haven't, hold on," she took her phone away from her ear. "Can you babysit Amber overnight tomorrow?"

"Sure," Cat said.

"She says yeah," Jade said turning her attention back to her phone. "Okay. I'll be there soon," she hung up.

"Where you guys going?"

"Out of town for a wedding. Mom thinks the drive will be too much for the baby."

"She still sleeps most of the day. But she's my favorite, so I'd do it anyways. When do I need to be there?"

"Right after school. We're leaving as soon as I get home."

"Alright. Drop me off at mine so I can drive my car over?"

"Sure. I gotta go, Mom got called into work. I'm on baby watch," Jade said as she hopped off of the counter.

"Have fun, give her kisses for me."

"Give her your own kisses."

* * *

Cat sighed, scrunching her nose at the bush peas on her dinner plate. Her mother found out that Robbie's parents weren't home so she made Cat come home, but let Robbie accompany her so they could still spend the night together. The one thing Cat was thankful for was that her mother let her have guests overnight or her spend the night at a friend's house overnight during school nights because she knew she'd actually go to school the next day. She wasn't very strict, so she was pretty much able to do whatever she wanted.

"Bush peas are disgusting," Cat said.

"Yeah, they're yucky," her five-year-old brother said.

"You like bush peas, Timmy," Mrs. Valentine said.

"Not if Cat don't."

"See what you do to your brother?"

Cat rolled her eyes and looked at Timmy. "You don't have to not like them just because I don't like them."

"But I wanna be just like you," Timmy said.

Cat smiled and ruffled his hair. "Aw, you're my favorite."

"How come you don't wanna be like me?" their other brother asked. "How come he's your favorite and not me?"

"Because he doesn't go through my panty drawer like a pervert."

"Anthony Dale, I told you to stay out of your sister's room—and especially her panty drawer," Mrs. Valentine said.

"Dad got to do it…" Anthony said.

Robbie glanced at Cat, a look of worry in his eyes and the redhead looked away from him, picking at her plate again.

"Can I be excused? I'm not hungry anymore," Cat said.

"Sure, honey," Mrs. Valentine said. "Happy thoughts, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered, getting up from her seat and leaving the kitchen.

Robbie looked down at his plate, biting his lip. He pushed his peas around until Mrs. Valentine spoke up again.

"You can be excused, Robbie. You don't have to sit with us," she said.

Robbie nodded and picked up his and Cat's plates, sitting them in the sink before he walked out of the kitchen and made his way upstairs to Cat's room. When he got up there, Cat was laying on her bed on her stomach, her head turned away from the door, which meant she was probably crying. He closed the door softly and crawled onto her bed.

Cat turned onto her side, still facing away from Robbie as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her backwards so they were in the spooning position.

Robbie's heart almost broke when he heard her sniffle. "Cat…" he whispered.

She let out a small sob and covered her face. She hated it when her father was brought up. He molested her for years. She was too scared to mention it to anybody, but the night he tried to rape her was the last straw. She screamed and cried and kicked him in the testicles and made a mad dash to the neighbor's house in her underwear and a ripped shirt and they called the police and got in contact with her mother, who'd been working at the time the incident took place.

It was still pretty recent to her. It had only been just over a year since it happened, but it still shook her up—which was a lot of the reason she refused to have sex with Robbie. She knew he wouldn't hurt her the way her father tried to, but it still freaked her out. That's why she made him promise they'd only ever have oral sex and 'outercourse' as she called it, which was really just masturbation—just, by each other.

Another sob escaped the redhead's throat and Robbie kissed her shoulder, letting his hand rub her side. "Shh… It's alright," he said.

"It still feels so recent, Robbie…" her voice cracked. "I still have nightmares. I still wake up crying every night."

He already knew that. They've had a lot of sleepovers, and not a single one went without him waking up to hearing Cat's screaming and pleading and thrashing around.

"I know, baby," Robbie whispered. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Which he couldn't. That was the truth. Somehow, Mr. Valentine's prison cellmates found out that he molested Cat and they beat him to death. Literally. Each one of them even sent a condolence letter to the family—but not in condolences of Mr. Valentine's death. It was condolences to what he did to Cat. They were really sweet letters, and Cat has them tucked away in her nightstand drawer.

Cat sobbed, bringing her knees up and lacing her fingers with Robbie's as she held their hands to her chest. Robbie held her close. They stayed in their embrace for a good hour or so, until Cat turn around, had Robbie lay on his back, and straddled him.

Her hips moved slowly, to build up the momentum and Robbie's hands rested on her waist.

"Cat, should we be doing this when you're upset?" Robbie asked.

"Shut up."

Cat worked her hips, slowly going quicker over time. Soon enough, they were both naked and she was still on top of him, rubbing her hardened button back and forth against the tip of his penis.

Robbie's hands rested on her hips and he quickly flipped them over so he was hovering over her, kissing her neck. He let his lips trail down her chest before swirling his tongue around her nipple, earning a moan.

Her fingers slid through his hair, gripping it lightly as she let her back arch just a little, pressing her breast into his mouth.

"Mm…" Cat moaned.

Robbie scooted down, kissing down her chest and abdomen before coming face to face with her core and licking her clit once before kissing the inside of her thigh.

"Robbie…" she whined.

"Mm?"

"Don't tease me…"

Robbie grinned and licked her clit again before placing a kiss on her pelvis.

"Rob… please…"

"Please what?" Robbie asked, sliding his tongue just above her hardened nub.

"I need you so bad, baby…"

"How bad?"

"Robbie…"

"Tell me."

Cat pulled Robbie up to face her, kissing his lips. "I want you to eat me out like you're starving and my pussy is the last pickle at the picnic," she whispered.

Just hearing those words made Robbie's length harden more than it already had. "Your wish is my command," he said, scooting down.

Robbie licked her clit and finally went to work, flicking his tongue over it and holding her thighs.

Cat moaned, letting her hips move with every lick his tongue made. After a while, she finally felt that familiar burning sensation and she held his head in place. "Fuck, you make me feel so good, baby…"

Robbie sucked on her clit, squeezing her thighs gently. He knew how to please her quickly after so many years of practice.

"Shit… I'm cumming," she said.

As Robbie kept sucking and running his tongue over her, he felt her tug at his hair a little as she tried to close her thighs, but he held them apart, quickening the pace of his tongue.

Finally, Cat let out a moan and she humped his mouth lightly. "Oh yeah…" she whispered. "Don't stop…"

It took a minute or two, but Cat finally came down from her high and Robbie took his mouth away when he felt her clit stop pulsing.

"Mm…" Cat sighed, running her hand through her hair, breathing heavily as she looked down at him with a smile. "I love you and your wonderful oral abilities."

Robbie smiled and kissed her lips. "Always a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Valentine."

Cat let her fingers run through Robbie's curly hair and she smiled, looking him in the eyes. "Thank you… For everything you do. For loving me. For taking my mind off of all the bad things. For not minding that I'm possibly addicted to getting off with you—but that part's really just because you make me feel really, _**really**_ good."

"I'd do anything for you, baby girl," Robbie said. "Any day, anytime."

" _Sempre_?"

Robbie nodded. " _Sempre_."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Cat growled in frustration, throwing her phone across the floor. It broke into pieces and she sat down against her locker, running her hand through her hair. She would forget her homework on the day it was due. Now she was going to get an incomplete on it, and her mother was at work so she couldn't drop it off for her.

"Is everything alright?" Tori asked.

Cat sighed and nodded. "Yeah…"

"No it's not. What's wrong?" she asked, sitting next to her.

"Left my homework at home. Anthony probably found it and threw it away or Timmy probably used it as a coloring page."

"Why didn't you put it in your backpack when you were done with it?"

"Me and Robbie were busy, I forgot to put it in my bag."

" _ **Busy**_?"

Cat blushed and nodded. "Yeah…"

"Oohhh," Tori grinned, poking Cat's arm. "How _**romantic**_ , you two love birds."

The redhead smiled, playing with her shoelaces.

"So, what's going on with you and Robbie anyways?" Tori asked. "I've been here for a year and you guys are the most confusing couple, I just can't figure you two out."

"We're not a couple," Cat said.

"You're not? But… you guys are like, _**in love**_ with each other… aren't you?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah."

"Have you told each other?"

"Mhm."

"But you're not a couple?"

"Nope."

"… _ **What**_?"

"We're different. We don't have a title. I'm not his girlfriend, he's not my boyfriend. We just… love each other," she shrugged.

"Can I ask you a really personal question?"

"Sure."

"Have you… _**y'know**_?"

Cat raised an eyebrow. "Have we had sex?"

"Yeah…"

"Why does everyone wanna know about that?" Cat asked. "No. We haven't."

"I'm sorry if it's intrusive—it's just, Jade said you fool around and I wasn't sure what it meant and she said to ask you about it."

"We _**do**_ fool around. But we've never had sex. Not _**technically**_."

Tori stared at her for a few seconds. "Cat, anal is still sex."

"Oh my god, Tori— _ **no**_ ," Cat said, standing up. "We've never done that either. We're more… touch, tongue, and grind."

"Does it work?"

"Does what work?"

"Does it… you know, curb the urge?"

"You mean, does it satisfy?" Tori nodded. "Yes," Cat said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "I mean, I guess it depends on the person. But, it works for us… why do you ask?"

"Oh, you know… just curious."

Cat grinned. "Victoria Vega, are you a _**virgin**_?"

"What? No!" Tori laughed nervously, but sighed. "Okay, yes—I'm just curious about what it feels like, and Jade doesn't give anybody any details about anything so I can't ask her."

"Well, I'm not a detail person either, so you're better off asking a prostitute," she said as they walked down the hall.

"Ugh, fine."

"There's nothing wrong with being a virgin—I'm a virgin."

"Yeah, but you're getting action—which is so unbelievable it's off the charts."

Cat scoffed. "Thanks. That was a self-esteem booster."

"I don't mean it like that—you're gorgeous. I just mean, you seem so innocent and… pure. You know?"

"Because I seem stupid?"

"Not… stupid, just… naïve?"

"Thanks, Tori."

"I'm just making it worse, aren't I?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever. So, do you have a date to the dance this Friday?"

"No, no one's asked me. Do you?"

"Robbie."

"Of course—I'm surprised you're not running away from him this time."

"Yeah, well, I'm not letting that little slut Gabriella snag him from me. He's mine."

* * *

"Hi, baby!" Cat said, picking up Jade's seven-month-old sister.

"She surely missed you, Cat," Jade's mother, Grace said.

"I missed her, it's been a whole two days and you've grown so much," she said, tickling the infant's belly.

"Alright, I stocked up on diapers, there's plenty of wipes, I pumped a couple bottles so give those to her before you give her formula, the number for the hotel we'll be at is on the fridge, and yes—Robbie can come over, but please be safe. If you get pregnant, I don't want the risk that it happened in my own house."

Cat laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry, Mrs. West. No babies being made."

"Yeah, because she's still not having sex," Jade said, walking past them.

"Jade!"

"Jadelyn August West, that's not your business to put out there. You could take some pointers from her, you know," Grace said.

"No thanks, I like getting laid," Jade said before walking out the house.

"Jadelyn!" she exclaimed before looking at Cat. "Okay—I already told you everything, if I remember something else I'll call you."

"Okay. Don't worry, Mrs. West, we'll be okay. I take care of Timmy all the time and he's still alive, that counts for something, doesn't it?" Cat asked.

"It does," she said, kissing Cat and Amber's foreheads. "I love you girls, no wild parties."

"Don't worry, all the teenage mothers I know are all busy this weekend."

* * *

Cat laughed as Amber splashed in the bathtub. After she fed the baby, she was a complete mess so she decided to just give her a bath and get in with her to kill two birds with one stone.

She looked over to the counter when she heard her phone vibrate and she leaned over the side of the tub to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. Door's locked," Robbie said.

"Spare key is under the turtle shell. We're in the bath tub, come on up."

"See you in a minute."

Cat hung her phone up and sat it on the counter before turning her attention back to Amber, gasping as she took a cup out of the baby's mouth. "You can't drink the bath water, honey, that's yucky."

Amber started fussing and hit the water angrily, so Cat scooped some water in the cup and poured it over the baby's head carefully, earning a laugh as she kicked her legs.

"Is that funny?" Cat asked. "You're silly, Amber."

"Cat?" Robbie called out.

"Told you we were in the bath, come in."

Robbie appeared in the room a few seconds later and knelt next to the tub, kissing Cat's lips lightly. "Hey, gorgeous."

"Hi."

"I was talking to Amber."

Cat laughed and picked Amber up, placing her in her lap and pouring water over her head again. "Will you hand me that baby shampoo?"

Robbie handed the bottle to her and kissed Amber's cheek. "Hey, cutie. You getting a bath with Auntie Cat?"

The baby babbled as Cat lathered her hair up with shampoo. Robbie watched with a smile on his face.

"You'd be a good mom," he said.

Cat snorted and rolled her eyes. "Please. We don't need to think about babies right now. Besides, we have younger siblings and Amber, we have our baby fix."

"Well, don't you think it'd be nice to have kids one day?"

"Well sure. But I mean—we're seventeen, is it something we really need to decide on right now?"

"Not decide, but it's always good to talk about a plan ahead of time, even if it doesn't happen for a while. Who knows—what if when you do get pregnant, we run out of time to talk about it because your water broke?"

Cat laughed and rinsed the shampoo out of Amber's hair. "Well, maybe we'll talk about it more later after I get her to bed. In the meantime, baby girl needs to be dried off and dressed and so do I, so grab a towel for her."

Robbie grabbed a towel from a shelf and unfolded it, holding it open. Cat handed Amber to him and he wrapped her up, kissing her cheek. "Hey cutie, you wanna get dressed?"

Cat unplugged the bath tub and grabbed a towel for herself, wrapping it around her. "Her clothes are in my room," she said, walking past them.

Robbie followed Cat and laid Amber down on the bed to dry her off. Cat got dressed into pajamas and sat on her bed next to Amber, smiling as she watched Robbie get her diaper and onesie on.

"You're gonna be a good dad," Cat said.

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You're great with her. She loves you."

"She's adorable. I can't wait to have our own babies some day."

Cat smiled. "Well… maybe we won't have to wait for long."

"Yeah well, in order for us to actually have babies, we have to make them."

Cat blushed and looked at her hands. "Well, maybe we'll get to that point soon. I won't make you wait forever. I promise."

"I'll wait as long as it takes for you to be ready. I'm in no rush. I like what we have," Robbie said, kissing her lips lightly.

"You're the only guy that would wait so long."

"All the other guys are just horny and impatient."

"Well, you get horny too, Mister—otherwise we wouldn't shimmy together."

Robbie snorted. "Shimmy? Is that what you call it now?"

"Well, I can't say it in front of Amber. Baby ears," she said, running her hand over Amber's head as the baby rubbed her eyes and started fussing. "Is it sleepy time, baby?" she asked, picking her up and laying her in her arms. "Will you go to the fridge and get a bottle? Put it in the microwave for thirty seconds."

"Sure. See you in thirty seconds."

Cat giggled and leaned against the head board, rocking back and forth gently as she rubbed Amber's leg. "Robbie really will be a good daddy, you know. He has a baby sister a little bit older than you. He's so good with her, too. He babysits when his mommy and daddy are working, he feeds her, he plays with her, he gives her bubble baths, and he takes her to the park and watches baby movies with her. He even plays with her dollies, but I think that's more for Rex's advantage." She smiled as Amber rubbed her eyes again and kissed her forehead. "I know you're tired—Robbie's getting your bottle."

"Have no fear, Bottle Man is here," Robbie said, walking into the room.

"See? Robbie to the rescue," Cat said taking the bottle from him and putting it in Amber's mouth.

It only took about fifteen minutes for Amber to finally fall completely asleep, and she was put to bed shortly after. Once Cat was sure she was fully asleep and wouldn't wake up, she went back to the room the Wests had for her while she stayed with them, and popped a movie in—her favorite movie in the world, Grease.

" _Well they couldn't teach you anything, you think you're such a looker,_ " she sang. " _But no customer would go to you unless she was a hooker!_ " she finished with a laugh. "Ugh, this is my favorite song ever."

"I thought the one the girl with the short hair sings about not crying was your favorite," Robbie said.

"Well, that one too, but this song is funny. I was singing it a few weeks ago and Timmy asked what a hooker was. Then he asked if he could be one and Mom threw a shoe at me because I said he'd have to be a pimp," she giggled.

"Good going, sell your brother like that," Robbie said jokingly.

"It was funny," she said, kissing his shoulder.

"Everything with Timmy is funny."

"Mhm," she said, kissing his neck and turning on her side to face him.

"You tryna get somewhere?" he asked with a grin, repositioning his own body and rubbing his hand over her waist.

"Maybe."

"Just maybe?"

"Shut up," she said, placing her lips against his.

Their lips moved together and their tongues swirled around each other expertly—they practically were experts at what they did, since they did it so often.

Her legs wrapped around his waist and she pressed her middle to his, grinding into him slowly.

Thirty minutes later, they were both still clothed with the exception of Cat's pants, leaving her in her shirt and underwear. Their breath was heavy and their hips were still moving together.

Then a sound from the baby monitor on Cat's nightstand erupted in the room. They kept their bodies moving against each other until Cat stopped when Amber started crying, panting as she let out a small groan.

"Amber," she whined.

"Go. I'll still be here," Robbie said.

"Yeah, but will your little friend?"

"We'll restart the game if we have to."

"You know," she said, rolling off of the bed into a standing position. "This is what it'll be like when we have our own babies. Never have time to satisfy."

"I'd be okay with that. I'd give up all the satisfaction to have one of your babies," he said, earning a grin from Cat before she left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Miss Valentine, Mr. Shapiro," Helen said, striding up to the group of friends.

Cat pursed her lips together, looking down as her cheeks flushed. "Hi, Helen…"

"Hi. I don't wanna catch you two in the position I caught you in this morning. You both have detention this Saturday."

"But—"Robbie started.

"Ah, ah, ah," she wagged her finger. "Y'all wanna make babies in my school, you're gonna give up a Saturday of fun for a Saturday of boredom. I'll see you tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp," she said before walking away.

"But, we weren't—oh, nevermind," Cat muttered.

"So. You guys got caught," Jade said with a smile. "I love that. Does anybody else love that as much as I do?"

"No," Tori said. "At school? Really? You guys can't hold out for eight hours?"

"You don't understand—I'm on a new medication," Cat said. "Makes my arousal shoot through the roof."

"I don't wanna know this," Andre said, walking away.

"You got put on new meds?" Beck asked. "Is everything…?"

Cat nodded. "Mhm. Fine. Just needed a new prescription. The other stuff wasn't working, so they put me on Lithium instead."

"Lithium?" Tori asked. "Isn't that for like, crazy people?"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Cat snapped.

"Nothing! I just—why are you taking a mental disability prescription?"

"It's not a mental disability, it's a mental _**disorder**_."

"Like, a mild one or the kind the crazies in the mental facilities have? You know, sad one minute, happy the next?"

Cat glared at Tori, the group staring between the two of them. After a few seconds, Cat let her backpack drop off her shoulder and she slammed the Latina against the lockers, holding her hand tightly around her throat. "I am not fucking crazy!"

"Cat!" Beck and Robbie shouted.

Jade tried pulling the small redhead off of Tori, but gasped when Cat's free hand balled into a fist and made contact with her cheek bone. "Fuck!" she snapped. "God damn it."

"Cat, chill out!" Beck said, finally managing to pull Cat away from Tori and held her arms behind her. "Tori, you okay?"

Tori nodded as she coughed, running a hand over where Cat's hand was. "What—was that?" she asked between gasps.

"She doesn't like the word 'crazy'," Robbie said. "She gets defensive."

"That's no reason to—choke somebody!"

"You called me crazy!" Cat growled. "You're lucky that's all you got!"

Jade let her palm connect with Cat's cheek, a loud smack echoing through the hallway. "Calm the fuck down! She didn't know! You can't just go around hurting people like that, Cat!"

Cat struggled against Beck's hold on her and she tried to jerk out of his grip. "Get the fuck off of me!" she shouted.

"No, you don't get to go anywhere until you calm your ass down," Beck said. "Time out, we're sitting on the steps. Now," he said, leading Cat over to the stairs and making her sit in front of him."

"Are you okay?" Robbie asked Tori.

Tori nodded, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'll… I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Robbie walked over to the steps and knelt in front of Cat, who immediately got out of Beck's grip and threw her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. "Shh… you're okay, calm down."

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" Tori asked Jade.

"She has bipolar disorder," Jade said. "She hates being called crazy."

"Well Jesus—if someone told me, I never would've said anything like that."

"If she didn't tell you then it wasn't your business and she didn't want you to know—but I figured you needed to know so you wouldn't fuck up again."

"Yeah. Thanks for the tip, I guess."

Jade walked over to Beck, Robbie and Cat and knelt next to them, running her hand through Cat's hair as the redhead breathed heavily through her crying. "Cat… you're okay. Breathe, baby girl."

"I—can't—my—" Cat said between breaths.

"Calm down. You're gonna hyperventilate. Come on, breathe. Breathe with me," Jade said before starting a rhythm in her breathing.

It took a few minutes, but finally Cat calmed down and was okay.

* * *

It was now lunch time and Cat and Robbie were walking hand-in-hand to their usual table that the group sat at, but as soon as Cat saw Tori, her eyes filled with tears and she let Robbie's hand go, going back inside the school.

"Is she seriously still mad at me?" Tori asked. "She's the one that tried to kill me."

"If she was trying, you wouldn't be alive," Jade said. "You called her the one word she hates the most. She's allowed to be upset over that. You don't get how serious this is for her."

"And I don't think she's still mad at you," Beck said. "She's mad at herself because she hurt one of her friends. She'll never forgive herself."

"Besides, you're not the only one that got hurt. Little bitch slugged me right in the face," Jade said.

"Well, I'm gonna go talk to her," Tori said, standing up.

"I don't think that's a very good idea," Robbie said. "She's really upset. She might go after you again."

"I don't care. I have to apologize. I didn't know she was so sensitive, I have to make things right."

Tori walked into the building and walked around for a few minutes, trying to find the redhead. She finally sighed and went into the girl's bathroom, taking her phone out to text Cat, but paused when she heard a familiar squeak. "…Cat?" she asked.

"…No?" Cat said.

Tori walked to the closed stall and pushed it open, only to see Cat sitting on the toilet with her knees pulled up to her chest. "Cat…"

"I don't wanna talk to you."

"Cat, I'm sorry… please talk to me."

"Why should I?"

"Because… I really am sorry…"

"No you're not. No one ever is," Cat said, passing Tori as she walked out of the stall. "No one is ever sorry when they make fun of me."

"I wasn't making fun of you. I didn't know about your… issues…"

"It's called bipolar disorder," she snapped.

"Sorry… I—Cat… I really am sorry… I'll try to be more cautious with my words."

"No you won't," Cat said. "You'll treat me differently. You already are."

"No I'm not."

"You are. You're looking at me with those sad, sympathetic eyes. I don't need your sympathy or your fucking pity, so just save it."

Tori stared at Cat, letting her harsh words sink in. Out of the years she'd known the redhead, not once had she ever heard her speak so sharply and it killed her to know that she was the reason behind it.

"Cat…" she started.

"Fuck off," Cat said, starting towards the door.

"Are we forgetting that you choked me out less than two hours ago?"

Cat stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Tori. "That wasn't my fault."

"It wasn't? So, it wasn't your hand around my throat?"

"You pissed me off!"

"That's no reason to harm your friends!"

"You're not my fucking friend!" Cat snapped, pushing Tori backwards. "No one here likes you! No one here is really your friend!"

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Tori exclaimed, pushing Cat away from her, only to be pushed into the wall, hearing—and feeling—her skull hit the bathroom wall. For such a tiny girl, Cat was a lot stronger than she looked.

"I'm sick and fucking tired of the nice girl act! No one is as nice as you! You're hiding something!"

"Kinda like you hid your pathetic excuse of a medical condition?"

Cat's eyes filled with rage as she stared at Tori. Suddenly, the Latina found herself being thrown to the floor and being punched several times in the face by the small Italian girl.

"Cat!" Tori shouted. "Stop! Fucking stop!"

Tori used all the strength she could muster, switching their positions so Cat was under her, but immediately regretted her decision when she heard her friend's head hit the floor—possibly harder than her own head had hit the wall. She gasped and stared as Cat's eyes closed immediately and she saw blood seeping from under her red velvet colored hair.

"Shit!" Tori exclaimed. "Fuck—Cat!"

She slapped Cat's cheeks lightly. "Cat, wake up."

Tori's eyes filled with tears and she scrambled up off the floor and took her phone out of her pocket, dialing 9-1-1.

 _"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"_ the operator asked.

"I need an ambulance to Hollywood Arts High School on Sunset Boulevard immediately, there's a girl in the girls bathroom bleeding from her head," Tori said quickly.

 _"Is this the principal?"_

"No, I'm a student—we got in a fight and—please hurry! She's unconscious!"

 _"An ambulance is on the way. We'll call the school to let them know a rig is being dispatched. Please stay with the student for her safety."_

* * *

"Hey, what's with the ambulance?" Andre asked as the ambulance pulled into the parking lot.

"I don't know…" Beck said. "Maybe that pregnant teacher's in labor."

"Female, seventeen years old, name is Caterina…" a paramedic said into a walkie talkie as he ran past the group with a gurney.

"Cat!" Jade said, immediately making her way into the building. She ran in the direction of the people lined up in the hall and stopped when she saw Tori. "What happened?"

"We got in a fight—she's bleeding," Tori sobbed.

Jade ran towards the bathroom and just got the door opened and was able to see Cat for just a few seconds before she felt herself being pulled away from the door. "No!" she shouted. "Let me go! She's scared!"

The goth managed to get out of the other person's grasp and ran into the bathroom, kneeling next to Cat. "Cat… Cat, please wake up. Wake up!" she said.

"Miss West, the ambulance is taking her to the hospital," Helen said. "You need to get out of their way."

"No, I can't leave her, please…"

"We'll have a policeman escort you to the hospital," a paramedic said. "Are you a relative?"

"No, I… I'm her best friend."

"Can we ask you a few questions?"

Jade sniffled and nodded. "Sure…"

"Please step into the hall."

Jade kissed Cat's forehead. "I'll be there soon, baby girl," she whispered before following the paramedic into the hallway.

"Alright—it's just basic stuff. What's her full name?"

"Caterina Hannah Valentine."

"Age and birthday?"

"Seventeen, June 26."

"Does she have any allergies?"

"Acetaminophen, strawberries, peanuts, penicillin, and… god, I can't remember the last thing, it's so stupidly simple and I can't remember," Jade's voice cracked.

"That's alright, we'll be getting this information from her parents as well as soon as we get to the hospital. Does she have any medical conditions?"

"Uh… asthma, she had a case of Stockholm Syndrome, but it doesn't really seem to be present these days, and she's bipolar. She actually just got put on Lithium, and she's also on an antipsychotic called Symbyax, which also has an antidepressant in it—I think it's called Fluoxetine but I'm not certain."

"That helps a lot, thank you. We'll have Officer Vega escort you to the hospital. Your friend will be just fine."

Jade sniffled and nodded as the paramedic walked away and she saw the rest of the group standing out of the way. She made her way over to Robbie and, surprisingly, hugged him, letting out a rack of sobs.

"What's going on?" Robbie asked. "Please tell me she's okay…"

"She's unconscious, she's bleeding from her head… she looks so scared…"

"Unconscious? But, why? What happened?"

"Tori…"

The group stared at Tori, who looked at them with apologetic eyes. Jade pulled herself away from Robbie and made her way over to the Latina, making her back up into a wall as she stared her down.

"If she doesn't come out of this, you will regret it," Jade said.

"I already regret it…" Tori said.

"Why would you do something like that to her?"

"This wouldn't have even happened if she hadn't jumped me."

"So because she got pissed off at you this morning, you decided to get your revenge?"

"No! I came to talk to her and apologize to her and she went nuts! She put her hands on me! I was just defending myself!"

"You bashed her head into the fucking ground! You cracked her head open!" Jade shouted.

"I didn't do anything! I just pushed her off of me!"

"She's fucking unconscious! You did more than just push her off of you! I swear to god if she doesn't come out of this or she dies or she has more issues than she already has, I will make you fucking pay for this, Vega!"

"That's enough, Jade," Helen said. "Officer Vega is here to escort you to the hospital."

"You better watch your fucking back. I get mad _**and**_ even," Jade said before following Tori's dad out of the building.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Cat's eyes opened slowly, blinking every few seconds. Everything was blurry for a minute or so until she saw that she was in a room that wasn't hers. Then she felt the pain in her head.

 _God, what did I drink?_

Then it hit her. She didn't remember drinking any alcohol.

Then she heard the beeps.

 **Beep…**

 **Beep…**

 **Beep…**

Her head turned and her eyes widened.

"What the fuck…" she whispered.

"Cat?" Jade asked.

Cat looked to her left. "Jade? What happened?"

"You got in a fight."

"A fight?" Jade nodded. "…Did I _**win**_?"

Jade laughed. "Yeah, baby girl. You won."

"Who'd I fight with?"

"Vega."

Cat sighed. "I'm still pissed off at her..."

"You have every right to be… god I can't believe she did this to you…"

" _ **Tori** _ did this? _**She's** _ the reason I'm here?"

"She made you hit your head on the floor. Your skull is fractured. You had a little bit of bleeding, but they got a shunt in and it's draining. They'll take it out when the blood stops draining."

"Jesus fucking Christ…"

"Don't worry. You're gonna be fine. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. My head hurts. I feel nauseous."

"Do you think you're gonna throw up?"

Cat nodded. "I might."

"You want me to help you to the bathroom?"

"Please. Hurry."

Jade helped Cat out of her bed and the second Cat's feet hit the floor, the redhead ran to the bathroom and Jade heard the retching before she even got to the bathroom herself.

She knelt next to Cat and held her hair back, rubbing her back lightly. When she heard Cat gagging, she patted her back gently.

"Don't hold it back, it's gonna come up anyways," Jade said. "I got you."

Cat vomited again, gripping the toilet bowl and Jade pulled the back of her gown closed to cover her backside.

Cat coughed and tried to catch her breath. "I think I'm—bleeding," she said.

"Are you throwing up blood?"

Cat shook her head before vomiting again.

Jade tied the redhead's hair back with a tie she had on her wrist and she looked Cat up and down to look for any evident bleeding, but her eyes caught sight of a small blood puddle on the floor.

"Okay, don't worry. As soon as you're okay, I'll help you back to bed and I'll get a nurse to check you out," Jade said. "I'm sure it's nothing, it's probably just your period or something."

"I got off my period last week."

"Sometimes periods are stupid. Don't worry about it, though. Are you okay now?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah. My stomach's killing me, though."

"Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

"No, it's not that kind of pain. It's like—cramp pain, but more stabby."

"Well then let's get you back into bed and I'll get a nurse. C'mon," she said, helping Cat stand up.

* * *

"Alrighty Cat, just slide your bottom to the edge of the bed and put your legs in these stirrups here," a nurse said.

Cat did as she was told and she let out a small breath as Jade held her hand. "Where's my mom?" she asked.

"Anthony had a meltdown," Jade said. "She went home to calm him down. The sitter couldn't handle him."

"They never can."

"She said she'd call me when he's okay again and I'll go stay with the boys while she comes and stays with you."

Cat nodded and her eyes widened at the contraption the nurse was picking up. "Wait, whoa, what the fuck is _**that**_?"

"It's a speculum," the nurse said.

"And what are you doing with it?"

"It goes in your vagina and opens it up so I can get a good look at your insides."

"What? No, I don't need a pap smear."

"I'm not doing a pap smear. I'm doing an internal exam."

"Is it gonna hurt?"

"Are you a virgin?"

Cat nodded.

"Mm… well, then it might, but it really depends on your pain tolerance to the genitals," the nurse said.

"I have no tolerance, because I don't do anything that's gonna _**hurt** _ my vagina," Cat said.

"You have the right to refuse the exam, but this is the only way we can find out what's going on and where the bleeding is coming from."

Cat looked at Jade. "What do I do?"

"I'd let her do it, baby girl," Jade said. "It's not gonna feel good, but they can't do anything about the bleeding if they don't know what's going on."

She whimpered and squeezed Jade's hand. "Okay…"

"Okay," the nurse said. "The insertion is the part that's going to be the most uncomfortable because I have to be a little rough to get it to the depth it needs to be. Are you ready?"

"I guess…"

Cat felt the speculum against her—and she thought at first it wasn't so bad. But then it was pushed inside of her and it took her breath away, tears filled her eyes, and she immediately let out a sob. "Oh my god!"

"I'm sorry honey," the nurse said. "I'm gonna open you up now, okay? Take deep breaths, it'll be alright."

Jade ran her hand through Cat's hair. "Breathe. You have to breathe; you're gonna give yourself a panic attack. Come on. Breathe with me, it'll be like a Lamaze class. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Do it with me."

Cat breathed at a rythymed pace with Jade, and soon enough she was breathing more normally, but was still in a lot of pain so she was still crying.

"I'm going to call a doctor in here to perform a deeper exam, okay?" the nurse asked.

"Oh my god, I'm dying aren't I?" Cat asked. "You wouldn't need another doctor if it wasn't something serious, I'm dying."

The nurse laughed. "You're not dying honey, I'm just not quite sure what's going on here so I'm going to call in the gynecologist to take a look herself. Don't worry too much, it could be nothing."

It took about fifteen minutes for the exam to be completely done and Cat let out a sigh of relief when the doctor took the speculum out of her.

"Oh thank god," Cat said. "My vagina will never be the same again."

"Don't worry, you're already back down to your normal size. You'll feel a little weird for a while but for the most part you're alright," the doctor said. "So, you had a cyst that burst. You're totally fine now, but you might bleed for a while and have some cramping similar to your menstrual cramps. Do you use tampons?"

"Yeah."

"Well, until the bleeding stops use pads. If you bleed for more than your regular menstrual cycle then come back here and just ask for a follow up appointment with Dr. Sparland."

"Okay…"

"Alright. If you think you can handle it, you can hop in the shower to get any excess blood off of you. I'll make sure to bring in a new gown and panties and there's pads in the bathroom cabinet. What size do you wear?"

"Two."

"Alright. I'll be right back."

"Wait."

"Yes?"

"…they're not reused are they?"

* * *

Cat was finally released from the hospital a few days later. She returned to school the next week, and everyone was staring at her—which made her uncomfortable and annoyed. She walked alongside Robbie, who had his hand on her waist as they walked down the hallway to Sikowitz's class, but as the late bell rang, Robbie pushed her against the wall gently, leaning down to kiss her neck.

Cat smiled and tilted her head to the side, closing her eyes. He always knew right where to suck. The feeling of his tongue brushing across the nape of her neck made her shiver. "Mm… we're already late…" she said.

"Yeah, so there's no harm in being a little later," Robbie said.

"I'd agree, but if Helen catches us again she'll expel us."

"She wouldn't expel the smartest girl in school."

"Don't humor me. Come on," she said, pushing him away gently before kissing his lips. Their tongues swirled around together until they were interrupted.

"Oh—um… sorry, I didn't mean to… interrupt," Tori said, causing them to pull apart.

"Then why did you?"

"I was just… going to class."

"I don't care."

"Okay…"

Cat looked at her for a few seconds before raising her eyebrows. " _ **Bye**_ ," she said in an annoyed tone.

Tori sighed. "Look, Cat—"

"No, _**you**_ look, _**Tori**_ ," Cat said, stepping closer to her. "No amount of apologies will ever repair our friendship. I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you, and I want nothing to do with you."

"We have three periods together."

"Yeah. And I don't want you to talk to me, or to look at me, or to even breathe in my direction. The whole school knows what you did to me. If you don't stay the fuck away from me from now on, I'll make your life hell."

"Jade's already doing that for me, thanks."

"Good."

Cat raised her hand quickly, causing Tori to flinch and back away, but instead she ran her hand through the Latina's brown tresses with a conniving smile. "Try to stay out of trouble. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to that pretty face of yours," she said before taking Robbie's hand and walking down the hall.

As soon as Cat and Robbie got to class they both took their respective seats—Robbie next to Andre and her next to Jade.

"Where were you?" Jade whispered.

"Taking care of business," Cat said, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Good god, take your hair down."

"Why?"

"You have a hickey the size of Texas."

"Don't care."

Jade's eyes adverted to the door when it opened and saw the glance Tori cast at Cat before sitting on the opposite side of the room. "Jeez, wonder what's with her," she said.

"Who knows," Cat shrugged.

"Caterina."

"What? We ran into each other in the hall."

"And what did you do to her?"

"I told her to stay the fuck away from me."

"Okay, I don't like the person you're becoming. You're starting to act way too much like me and I don't like that at all."

"Yeah well a person can only take so much," Cat snapped in a whisper. "I'm tired of being stared at—and it's _**her**_ fault."

"You don't have to make her life hell."

"She cracked y head open. She's lucky I didn't choke her ass out when I had the chance. Why do you care anyways? She's not your friend."

"I didn't say that."

"You _**always**_ say that, Jade. Take her side, I don't care, but if you do, then go sit with her."

"I'm always on your side, baby girl."

"Then stop defending her."

Jade sighed, leaning back in her chair. There was no winning with Cat—but she'd never admit that.

* * *

Cat ran her hand through Timmy's hair as they watched a movie. Anthony was having one of his episodes earlier, so while their mother handled him, Cat brought Timmy upstairs to her room with her to watch a movie. Timmy picked Howl's Moving Castle, which just so happened to be his and Cat's favorite movie ever.

"Here's another curse for you," Timmy said with the movie.

"May all your bacon _**burn**_ ," Cat said with him.

She kissed his head and tickled his belly, causing him to erupt in a fit of giggles and thrash around her bed.

"No, I'll have an accident!" Timmy said.

Cat stopped tickling him. "Do you have to go potty?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Go to my bathroom, I'll pause the movie and wait for you," she said, pausing the movie.

"Kay kay," he said, jumping off the bed and running towards the bathroom.

"Wash your hands!"

"Okay!"

"With _**soap**_!"

"Okay!"

"And _**water**_!"

"Okay!"

"And remember to dry them!"

"Oh-kay!"

Cat giggled and picked her phone up as it rang and put it on speaker. "Hello?"

" _Hey. What are you up to?"_ Jade asked.

"Watching a movie with Timmy."

" _What movie?"_

"Howl's Moving Castle."

" _I'm coming over, start it over."_

"Ughhh," she groaned playfully. "Okay. I'll tell Tim."

"Tell me what?" Timmy asked, running back into the room.

"Aunt Jade's coming over."

"Yay! Hi Jadey!"

" _Hey buddy. I have something for you,"_ Jade said.

"But my birthday's not til next year."

" _It's not for your birthday. This is a 'just because' present."_

"What is it?"

" _You'll see when I get there."_

"Well then get here fast!"

Cat and Jade both laughed. _"Alright. I'll head over right now,"_ Jade said.

Jade showed up roughly fifteen minutes later, but Cat's mom wanted Timmy in bed so by the time she got there, he was already asleep.

Cat and Jade watched the movie together, cuddled up to each other like they always did when they watched movies together. They were both silent aside from the occasional burst of laughter at the funny parts. That was until Jade spoke up.

"I think I'm pregnant."

Cat's eyes widened and looked down at her best friend, whose head was resting on her chest. "What?!"

"I'm late for my period and I haven't been feeling very well."

"Jade, don't you use protection?"

"No."

"Jesus, Jade!"

Jade sat up and looked at her. "What?"

"You're seventeen years old, you don't have a job, you still live with your mother, who has a baby herself—Jade, how are you going to take care of a child and still go to school?"

"Who says I'm going to school?"

Cat sat up. "You can't just drop out just because you're having a baby!" she said. "That's the worst mistake you can ever make—tons of teen parents stay in school."

"What am I gonna do with the baby? My mom and dad work, I'll be at school—there's no one to babysit."

"You should have thought about that before you got yourself pregnant."

Jade sighed and laid back on the bed. "I didn't tell you this to be lectured."

"Then you shouldn't have told me. Jade…" Cat said, laying next to her. "I love you… I just want things to go okay for you…"

"And they will. Things will be fine. They always turn out fine in the end. When did you become the negative one? Aren't you supposed to be the happy-go-lucky perky redhead?"

"Yeah well I've gone through some shit that made me not so perky. And my vagina still feels really weird from that exam."

"Maybe if you and Robbie played Pirates you'd feel better."

Cat's eyes widened. "That's what Pirates is?! It's sex?!"

"It's always been sex, Cat. Haven't you guys talked about it yet?"

"What? Having sex?"

"Yeah."

"Well… kinda. He told me I'd be a really good mom when I babysat Amber. And that we should practice making our own babies," she said with a giggle.

"You two, of all people, don't need kids. Not right now anyways."

"Well, duh… I mean, I want kids more than anything, but… I don't want them to have my issues, and there's a really good chance that they'll get it, yanno?"

"Even if they do, those babies would be perfect. They'd be half you, after all. But still. Don't think about that right now. You have time. At least wait until after senior year if you do try for kids."

"Ugh… that's a whole year and thirteen days away."

"Thirteen days? Is that really all we have left?"

Cat nodded. "Mhm. We'll get out on a Tuesday. On the thirty-first."

"Ooh, that means someone only has to wait forty more days until they're the big one-eight."

"Don't remind me. I don't wanna be an adult, I wanna just… be a kid. Forever."

"Well, the old Cat would be thrilled."

"The new Cat already feels old."

"The new Cat is old."

"You're only a week younger than me, shut up."

"That week means the world to me."

"Only because you get to make fun of me for being older."

"Damn right."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Ow!" Cat snapped as someone stepped on the back of her shoe.

"I'm sorry," Tori said quickly.

"You. Why are you up my ass?"

"I'm not, I'm just—"

"I don't give a shit, I told you to stay the hell away from me," she said, opening her locker.

"Can you stop being so bitchy?"

Cat spun around to face her. "I don't know, Tori—can you stop making my life difficult and just leave me the fuck alone? I already told you, I don't want your apologies, they mean nothing to me."

"You choked me out."

"You cracked my fucking **_skull_** open!" Cat shouted, causing the students in the hall to pause and stare at them.

"What's going on over here?" Jade asked as she walked up. "Oh. **_Vega_**."

"Jade," Tori said.

"What's up, baby girl?"

"I can't get away from her," Cat said.

"Are you so desperate for forgiveness that you're stalking her now?" Jade asked, looking at Tori.

"I'm not **_stalking_** her—my class just happens to be this way," Tori said.

"Well then keep going."

"Hey, what's up?" Andre asked as he, Beck, and Robbie walked up.

"Tori's stalking Cat," Jade said.

"No I'm **_not_**!" Tori said.

"I thought it was agreed that you'd stay away from her," Andre said.

"You, too?"

"Look, I'm sorry—but Lil Red was my friend before you were and you hurt her."

"She hurt me too, remember? She choked me out—she slammed my head against a wall."

"I didn't make your fucking brain bleed!" Cat shouted, slamming her locker and pushing Tori back.

"Hey—let's not, Lil Red," Andre said, holding Cat's arm.

"Cat," Helen said. "My office. Now."

"What? But—" Cat started.

" ** _Now_** , Miss Valentine."

Cat sighed and glared at Tori as she followed Helen, leaving the rest of the group by her locker.

"I don't understand why she's being such a bitch," Tori said.

"I do," Jade said. "You called her crazy, then you bashed her head against the floor and cracked her skull open, gave her a brain bleed—do you realize she could have died? If that had been the case, the scissors in my locker would be in your **_throat_** right now."

"It was an accident! Her choking me was **_not_** an accident!"

"Her choking you was her bipolar talking! And that only happened because you called her crazy!"

"I didn't know about her being bipolar!"

"That doesn't give you the right to call somebody crazy!"

"That's enough," Beck said. "Tori, just go on with your day. Stay away from Cat."

* * *

"Sit," Helen said.

Cat sighed, sitting in a chair in front of Helen's desk.

"Why did you push Miss Vega?" Helen asked.

"She pissed me off."

"That's no reason to push her."

"She's **_everywhere_**! It doesn't matter where I go, she's always right there. I'm tired of seeing her, I'm tired of running into her, and I've told her several times to stay away from me and not talk to me but she keeps doing it. She keeps trying to apologize and I don't want to hear it."

"Well then maybe we should get you an in-school restraining order."

Cat looked at Helen for a few seconds. "We can do that? Seriously?"

"Seriously. But you can't go near her either. And you keep your hands off of her."

"What if she comes at me first?"

"She hasn't so far."

"She cracked my skull open."

"Miss Valentine. We'll issue an in-school restraining order. In the meantime, steer clear of Miss Vega."

"Whatever," Cat said, standing up. "Can I leave?"

"The sooner the better."

Cat walked out of the office and made her way down the hall when she was stopped by Jade.

"Do you have a tampon on you?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, in my bag," Cat said, opening her bag up and fishing through it. "I take it you're not pregnant."

"I'm still gonna go to Planned Parenthood to get a test done just to be sure, but I just started and totally ruined my new underwear."

Cat giggled and pulled a tampon out, handing it to Jade.

"Thanks, baby girl. You're a lifesaver. I'll be back in school later; I'm going home to shower and change."

"I'll tell Sikowitz," she said as they parted ways. She walked into the class room and sat next to Robbie, laying her head on his shoulder.

"How'd it go with Helen?" Robbie asked.

"I'm not suspended. They're issuing an in-school restraining order."

"Cat… don't you think this is going a little too far?"

"You can always go sit with Tori, you know."

Robbie sighed and rested his cheek against Cat's head. "I'm just worried that people are going to start talking about you."

"They already fucking talk about me, Robbie!" Cat snapped, sitting up. "Everybody stares at me, everybody thinks I'm fucking insane, everybody looks and me and I know in their heads they're saying "that's the crazy bitch that tried to kill Tori Vega, why is she at school and not in a mental asylum?" I'm not the naïve girl everyone thinks I am, Robbie, I'm fed the fuck up with everybody thinking I'm the bad guy and Tori's the good girl! She's the one that started all of this drama when she called me crazy, and then split my head open! But no! Nobody thinks of Tori as the bad guy! It's always **_me_** , **_I'm_** always the fuck up, **_I'm_** always the one in the wrong! I can't help what happens when I get mad; it's not my fault I get so angry! I'm **_not_** crazy, I'm sick! I'm **_sick_**!"

By this point, Cat was sobbing uncontrollably and the whole class was staring at her, some with tears in their eyes, including Tori and even Sikowitz. Robbie took her into his arms and ran his hand over her back, kissing her head in attempt to calm her down.

"Alright, uh… I think we'll just skip class today," Sikowitz said. "Everyone file out."

As everyone but Robbie, Beck, and Andre left the room, Sikowitz closed the door and walked over to Cat.

"Cat. Would you like to go home?" Sikowitz asked.

The amount of sobs coming through Cat's throat didn't even give her time to answer, so Beck took his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call her mom," he said.

* * *

"Thank you guys so much for calling me," Mrs. Valentine said in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, no problem," Beck said. "Seriously. It was scary, she just… broke down. We did what we could to calm her down, but it took a while."

"You tried, that's the thing that matters. I think she just needs a really long nap. She hasn't been sleeping well lately. She still adjusting to those new meds she was put on. It'll take some time for her to be her normal self."

"I wish her normal self would come back," Robbie said. "This new behavior is scary. She's never been so… mean."

"I know. I know it's scary, honey, it'll just take some time."

"Mom?" Jade's voice rang.

"In the living room, honey."

Jade walked into the living room and sat on the arm of the couch. "What happened? School got out and no one else was there, is everything okay?"

"Cat had a breakdown in Sikowitz's class," Beck said.

"Jesus… How is she now?"

"She's alright. She's upstairs sleeping," Mrs. Valentine said.

Jade sighed and shook her head, running her hand through her hair. "I'm so sick and tired of this… She deserves better, you know, she—she deserves the world, and she just keeps getting fucked over because of this stupid fucking disease taking over," her voice cracked.

"I know, honey," Mrs. Valentine said, wrapping her arms around Jade and kissing her head. "We're gonna get things figured out for her. She'll be fine."

"God damn it Anthony!" Cat shouted from upstairs.

"Uh oh," she said. "Cat, what's wrong?" she asked, making her way towards the stairs.

"I swear to God if you don't stay the fuck out of my room and stop fucking touching me you won't have any hands left to touch me with, you little prick!"

Mrs. Valentine, Jade, Beck and Robbie made their way upstairs quickly, finally ending up in Cat's room to find Cat in a tank top and underwear, standing on her bed and Anthony against the wall crying.

"What happened?" Mrs. Valentine asked, running her hand over Anthony's hair.

"I was sleeping, and the little pervert came in and started feeling around on me! I told him to stop and he tried to put his hand down my panties so I kicked him in the nuts!" Cat said.

"Alright. Ant, you cannot touch Cat like that, okay? Ever. That's bad, that's not an okay thing to do. She's your sister, honey, brother's can't touch sisters like that," she said to Anthony.

"Dad did it," Anthony sobbed.

"And you know what happened to dad, Anthony?" Cat asked, getting off of her bed and walking over to him. "The guys he was with in prison? They tortured him."

"Cat," Mrs. Valentine said.

"They were his friends," Anthony said, sniffling.

"Oh yeah? Some friends they were. You know what they did to him after they found out he was touching me? They cut off his dick, Anthony. While he was alive. They just—chopped it off, they mutilated him and beat the shit out of him because he was molesting me—that's exactly what's gonna happen to you if you don't stop fucking touching me, people will hurt you! You can't touch anybody like that. Just because Dad did it doesn't make it okay for you to do. Do you know what it does to me when you do stuff like that to me?"

"No…"

"It hurts me, Ant. It hurts. It makes me throw up."

"But I don't want you hurt."

"Then stop touching me. It's nasty, Ant, brothers don't do that to sisters. Ever. It's gross."

"Grosser than dangling loogies over your face?"

"Way more gross than that, but you're gonna stop doing that shit to me too cause now I know a good nut shot will make you stop your shit—and you are gonna stop your shit because the next time you touch me, or try to touch me the way you just did, I won't get Mommy, I'll call the fucking cops on you and let them take your ass to prison and let you get beat to death just like Dad."

"Caterina," Mrs. Valentine snapped. "Ant, why don't you go take a nap? And apologize to Sissy."

"I'm sorry…" Anthony said, holding his arms out.

"I don't want a hug right now," Cat said. "Maybe later. I hurt."

"I don't want you to hurt."

"Well I do, because you hurt me."

"Go take a nap, Ant. We'll talk later," Mrs. Valentine said.

Anthony walked out of the room and Mrs. Valentine ran her hand over Cat's cheek. "Are you alright, honey?"

Cat shrugged. "I guess… I want a lock on my door, Mom. One he can't pick. Like a chain lock."

"We'll get one tomorrow. It'll be fine, sweetheart. I'll keep an eye on him."

"Okay…"

"I'm gonna go make sure he's actually taking a nap. You're okay?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah. Fine."

Mrs. Valentine left the room and Cat ran her hand through her hair, crossing her arms over her chest as Robbie and Beck stared at her—Jade knew better.

"What!" Cat snapped. "Don't look at me like that, you know my brother's messed up in the head."

"I didn't know he was this messed up, Cat," Beck said. "I'm a phone call away, no matter what time it is."

Cat nodded. "Thanks…"

"Are you okay?" Robbie asked.

"I guess. I'll know later."

"Want me to stay with you?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah…"

"I'm gonna head out," Beck said. "You need a ride?" he asked Robbie.

"Yeah," Robbie said before kissing Cat's lips. "I love you."

"Love you too."

Cat watched the boys leave and she sighed to herself, before letting herself lay on her bed.


End file.
